Management and Facebook...

How do you handle an employee who is a salaried member of management posting unprofessional comments on Facebook concerning his employees? These are not sexist or racist but more like "Im going to make so and so's life a living hell". This posted just after an argument between the two that resulted in a write up and "last chance notice" for his employee. Our company has no policy on such things and I dotn even know if one could be written.

Does this “manager” report to you? If so I would tell him to immediately delete this posting and that he is not to post in the future on FB about the company or staff. By stating that he is “going to make this person’s life hell” he is potentially putting the company in harm’s way for a wrongful termination suit. I would write a very simple policy that members of management should not be posting anything work related on any social media site without approval of you pick who.

How do you handle an employee who is a salaried member of management posting unprofessional comments on Facebook concerning his employees? These are not sexist or racist but more like "Im going to make so and so's life a living hell". This posted just after an argument between the two that resulted in a write up and "last chance notice" for his employee. Our company has no policy on such things and I dotn even know if one could be written.

Block Facebook from company network. Outside of work, it's a free country. That's what I would expect as an employee, anyway.

Does this “manager” report to you? If so I would tell him to immediately delete this posting and that he is not to post in the future on FB about the company or staff. By stating that he is “going to make this person’s life hell” he is potentially putting the company in harm’s way for a wrongful termination suit. I would write a very simple policy that members of management should not be posting anything work related on any social media site without approval of you pick who.

Ditto.....

And if he refuses?... there's people in Cleveland that can and will change his mind...

How do you handle an employee who is a salaried member of management posting unprofessional comments on Facebook concerning his employees? These are not sexist or racist but more like "Im going to make so and so's life a living hell". This posted just after an argument between the two that resulted in a write up and "last chance notice" for his employee. Our company has no policy on such things and I dotn even know if one could be written.

Sadly, this has become one for the lawyers to fight over. People have been fired for their postings. Others have counter-sued (for being fired) over First Amendment rights. You're probably better off asking your company lawyer, since he/she may have to get involved later.

And as others have suggested, even private Facebook postings have been used in some courts -- the employee on the wrong end of these comments can very well have a case. He may or may not deserve being written up; but it's just gotten harder to fire him.

My guess is that you want a carefully-framed company policy. Perhaps two policies; one for salaried and one for hourly?

As for the salaried employee with a hot head -- it sounds like he is at least a part-time jerk. Depending on whether or not that extends to being a full-time jerk you may want to have a sit down or begin to start the process of observing and reporting each incident (on company time) prior to firing.

Fatal gunshot wound to the career!

Originally Posted by nicpaige

How do you handle an employee who is a salaried member of management posting unprofessional comments on Facebook concerning his employees? These are not sexist or racist but more like "Im going to make so and so's life a living hell". This posted just after an argument between the two that resulted in a write up and "last chance notice" for his employee. Our company has no policy on such things and I dotn even know if one could be written.

It strikes me as though the alleged "manager" is trolling for lawyers, especially if the moron is naming names.

A manager making a statement such as that, out loud, is bad enough, but to post it on FB for all the world to see, is just too stoopid!

I am no fan of lawyers, but if I was the employee in question I'd print out the FB page and hit the Yellow Pages!!

OT but related - During a recent court battle I learned that the PA UC board determined that if an employee complains to others, including electronically, about work issues before bringing it up to management, that is grounds for dismissal for misbehavior. That's only relevant to UC, but it's an example of the evolution happening around this sort of thing.

Rule #1 of Facebook : Never ever friend people you have to work with
Rule #2 of facebook: dont use facebook to insult people you work with

Managers rule #1 of facebook: Fire anyone found posting s*** especially if its during work time.

There , sorted

Boris

Rule #0 of Facebook: don't have an account and you'll have no Facebook problems. Works for me.

Here in Australia, that manager very likely could get fired for making such a posting and the employee mentioned could make out a case for bullying and inappropriate workplace activity. Doing something like that is really, really stupid. The manager of a friend of mine recently got given a choice between resigning or being fired for doing something less than this. As I understand it, they got legal advice and union advice, then went quietly.

That employee has just been guaranteed a free ride on performance assessments for a couple of years, absent some really substantial evidence of non-performance.

I despise Facebook but then I have a life that doesn't need affirmation by others.

The supervisor in question did not post this during work hours. To me it just shows an incredible lack of professionalism and immaturity that only confirms reports of inappropriate behavior in the past. I believe we will be drawing up a new policy asap.

I had some issues with this and was advised for California labor law I am unable to block people from openly discussing working conditions, however I can block all non work web sites. I found a very nice and powerful firewall that will run on any old crappy computer. It was very well worth the time to learn to use it. All you need is two nic cards.

That facebook post had absolutely nothing to do with work conditions, its basically a threat from a supervisor to a subordinate.

Saying "work sucked today, I broke a tap and had to clean the sump" is totally different than saying you are going to use your company power to make somebody's life miserable. Is he going to sabotage this employees output just to make him look bad?

I believe a quick firing is in order, policy or not, the guy is apparently power hungry and is probably costing you all kinds of money you don't realize in productivity due to low moral of his staff and lost good employees.

That is the subjective part Bob, we are only getting a summation of the comments. The person getting fired might claim otherwise and make a beef. Check with a labor attorney before you do anything. Someone this whacked out is the type to try and cash in on you with a lawsuit.

The real story could be something like this: " I'm going to make so and so's life a living hell, he is doing his job so poorly and is a safety risk to everyone around him and his team leader wont do anything to get rid of him. I would fire him if I could. "

In my corporate workplace that supervisor would be quickly terminated with cause. No delay, no excuses. It is very likely that would fall under the federal workplace harassment / violence rules and opens you up to a lawsuit.

Posting Permissions

ADVERTISEMENTS

ABOUT Practical Machinist

With more than 10.6 million unique visitors over the last year, Practical Machinist is the most visited site for metalworking professionals. Practical Machinist is the easiest way to learn new techniques, get answers quickly and discuss common challenges with your peers. Register for the world’s largest manufacturing technology forum for free today to stay in the know.